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Design inspiration: The Herbalist Dress
For our May 2022 drop we’ve designed a not-so-everyday staple. The Herbalist dress is about looking to the natural world to provide solace in a confusing, conflicted and increasingly digital world. Going back to nature provides respite, healing and is like coming home.
As it was one of our most beloved silhouettes, we’ve brought back our Mini A-line Prairie dress, in new natural fabrics. We partnered with our maker Mona to adorn The Herbalist dress in delicate embroideries to bring the wearer ease and joy. Our Herbalist dress has been updated with ¾ length sleeves and delicate binding at the cuff, and is available in UK sizes 6-30.
Generous pockets and a silhouette that suits every body type is the reason this style was one of our bestsellers in SS20. This dress is designed to sit just above the knee. Prefer a midi dress? Message our team to extend the ruffle at the hem to make it as long as you need.
Each delicate single line embroidery has its own positive properties; Wood Sorrel and Marigolds to sooth stomach butterflies and discomfort, Ginkgo Biloba which is high in antioxidants and reducing anxiety, St John's Wort which has been used to treat depression, Peppermint, to improve digestion and concentration and Chamomile, Californian Poppies and Passion Flowers to sooth, promoting good sleep and relaxation.
Inspired by a trip to Mexico, designer Susanna has picked bright joyous embroidery thread colours to contrast with the simple muted shades of our natural fabrics. Choose from Navy and Striped linen or orange handwoven Khadi Cotton. Our carefully selected natural fabrics represent our reverence to nature and hardworking fibres that will soften with every wear.
Wear it over wide leg trousers and slip on shoes for an easy statement silhouette, with bare legs and feet in your favourite natural spot or with the collar frills peeking out from under your sweater when the weather turns cooler.
May's Limited Drop: The Herbalist Dress
Limited Edition Herbalist Dress in Orange Cotton Khadi
This isn't just a dress. It's the refreshing fizz of an Aperol Spritz by the beach. It's a juice from biting into a perfect orange - sweet, playful and freeing. Made in Orange Handwoven Indian Khadi Cotton with Cream, Pink and Green multicoloured floral embroidery.
Limited Edition Herbalist Dress in Ecru Striped Linen
For wearing next to the canal, laughing with friends on a perfect summer's day. Practicality and frivolity are not mutually exclusive in this not-so-everyday staple. Made in Oeko-Tex certified Lithuanian linen, with Lilac embroidery. This soft, washed linen is created from flax, a sustainable crop that does not use pesticides or chemicals or too much water, so it’s naturally organic.
Limited Edition Herbalist Dress in Navy Blue Irish Linen
This isn't just a dress, it's the first balmy night of summer with bare legs. It's dangling ankles into the sea, and eating pastel de natas hungrily with a long lost friend, with breathing room at the waist and practical pockets. Made in Irish linen, end of roll from a local supplier and diverted from waste.
Limited Edition Herbalist Dress in Grey Striped Linen
Feels like the first crisp sip of cold white wine on summer's day to wear, or luxuriating in a good book in the park for a hour or so, with cropped sleeves for playful ruffles for combining practicality and frivolity. This soft, washed linen is created from flax, a sustainable crop that does not use pesticides or chemicals or too much water.
Designed in house by Birdsong and sewn by Fabricworks, the enterprise arm of a community arts charity in Limehouse and embroidered by Mona at her studio in Bow, our dresses are finally wrapped and sent to you by adults with learning disabilities in Kentish Town. All of these grassroots groups, charities and social enterprises provide holistic support and decent living wages to everyone involved in making our clothes- and these groups are all within 8 miles of each other.